Queen Elizabeth Recalls Her Coronation Day As "Horrible"

Queen Elizabeth has been in power for so long, it's hard to remember that her coronation was something captured on film. Her Majesty became Queen on February 6th, 1952 following the death of her father, and her official coronation was on June 2, 1953.

Royal Central

The Queen's lifelong friend, Lady Anne Glenconner, was an arm's length away from the new ruler when she became Queen, and calls it "the most special day of her life."

"There was the queen. We hadn't ever seen her in her coronation dress. And she looked absolutely ravishing," she said. "We were all waiting there. And she just turned round, and she said, 'Ready, girls?' And we sort of nodded and off we went."

In a new documentary for the Smithsonian Channel, called The Coronation, Queen Elizabeth say down to talk about her special day.

“I’ve seen one coronation, and been the recipient in the other, which is pretty remarkable,” says the royal great-grandmother. “It’s sort of, I suppose, the beginning of one’s life really, as a sovereign.”

And while Lady Glenconner calls her friend's coronation the best day of her life, the Queen vividly recalls a "horrible" part of it.

The Queen spoke candidly about the extravagant crown she wore during her coronation, and joked that she couldn't bend her neck for fear of it snapping.

“You can’t lean down to read your speech. You have to bring [the speeches] up. Because if you did your neck would break and it would fall off," she said. "Nothing like that is comfortable. So there are some disadvantages to crowns, but otherwise they’re quite important things.”

Her Majesty also spoke about her horse-drawn golden carriage ride throughout London. It weighed almost four tons.

"Horrible," Queen Elizabeth said of the ride. "It's not meant for traveling in at all. It's only sprung on leather. It's not very comfortable. We must have gone around four or five miles, halfway around London. It can only go at a walking pace. The horses couldn't possibly go any faster. It's so heavy."

Despite being uncomfortable, Lady Glennconner says people still loved watching the Queen on her carriage ride.

"You could actually feel, physically feel, the sort of love and the noise coming at you. It was the most extraordinary feeling. And they were mad about her. They were so happy," Glennconner said.

Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle when she marries his son Prince Harry — a gesture of welcome to the American actress as she joins the royal family.

Kensington Palace said Friday that Markle asked the heir to the British throne to offer a supporting elbow Saturday at the wedding in St. George's Chapel in Windsor once Markle's father was unable to attend after falling ill.

It has created problems not only when Prince Charles and Princess Diana ended their marriage in the most bitter fashion in 1996 but also when other royals — Princess Margaret — fell in love with people who had been divorced and could not marry them for that reason.

The British monarch also serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a post that has never been held by